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Austin Bag Ban: Building a Foundation for Tyranny

Austin Texas, whose claim to fame is its prolific “weirdness”, has undertaken a new effort to catapult their “weirdness” to new and unimaginable heights. While liberal mayors and governors across the nation have been busy waging war on guns, profit, and families, the liberal Austin City Council has been lamenting their unfortunate location within the red state of Texas, desperately searching for something to ban. Well, they finally found it, grocery bags. As of March 1st, grocery bags, both paper and plastic, are illegal inside the city limits of Austin. What’s equally disturbing is that the city is spending over two million dollars of taxpayer funds training groups of volunteer “citizen observers” to enforce the ordinance, with the hope of creating a bag gestapo. Retailers who do not comply with the ordnance risk paying steep fines.

This issue is easy to make light of, as liberal leaders across the nation are hell bent on banning anything and everything and their thirst for bans is unquenchable. From plastic bags, to guns, to carbon dioxide, to salt and soda- things must be banned! However, it’s really much deeper than that. Certainly we must mock and ridicule such ridiculous regulation, how could we not? But we must also realize that it is this sort of incremental localized regulation that has slowly but surely turned us into an administrative state. Outlandish local ordinances have a nasty habit of turning into widespread social engineering. The federal government uses silly plastic bag bans, such as this example to eventually make the case for federally funding green initiatives. Ludicrous local regulation is the foundation for incorrigible federal fiats. So while we mock Austin’s city council and sympathize with the single mother juggling milk and bread in one hand, and a newborn in the other, we can’t afford to lose sight of the big picture. The administrative state we currently live in is built upon a foundation of bag bans.

Please... so now getting rid of plastic bags is tantamount to akin to tyranny? Perhaps if some of you are confused as to why this so-called "movement" is quickly losing steam, its because of these non-stop ridiculous accusations, all in the same vein of " They're taking away.... OUR FREEDOMS!!" Well guess what? we liberals like freedom too. Secondly, we won the election for a reason and if some of you can't figure out why, then that's too bad.

Where does it say it? In the title where it says:"Austin Bag Ban: Building a Foundation for Tyranny"
You see? Most Americans see right through the overly transparent ploys of such statements. But to drive the point home more clearly, the GOP lost because they have fallen behind and only represent a shrinking part of the demographic. The country is changing and old fashioned McCarthy-era tactics will increasingly fail, even if they are sugar coated in a thinly veiled claim of "protecting our freedoms!!"
We don't need "Our rights" preserved. We've been winning back our rights from the very start and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Where does it suggest this is tyrannical? What it does suggest is how assinine it is, how it is driving bussiness out, how it grabs the authority to penalize bussiness owners for non-compliance, how it is adding millions of dollars in waste to create a bag police. This is laughable, that would be the point. You won an election, this is true and soon you will reap the ramifications to your decision to re-elect a tyrant and enemy to freedom, but thats okay, we are fighting to preserve your rights too.

On the eve of this past election, we made a plea to toss-up states that are widely described as residing in coal country to understand that if President Obama were to emerge victorious, the EPA would soon unleash a slew of anti-coal regulations that would absolutely crush t

My sister and I were hanging out one weekend watching the Food Network, eating cookie dough and trying to stay cool; Texas summers are brutal. We ended up watching a food truck special that highlighted some of the best food trucks from cities all over the country. Oh My!

This summer has been one of valuable education and clarification for me. In writing my last post on PolyFace Farms, I mentioned that I am spending the summer with friends on their working farm, Dazi Acres.

A SWAT team broke through the gates of a small Arlington, Texas farm and led a massive 10-hour search of the property. The residents were handcuffed and held at gunpoint while they watched more than 10 tons of their property hauled off in trucks.What dangerous contraband required this massive governmental response? It wasn’t illegal explosives, stolen vehicles or drugs, but rather organic blackberry bushes, okra plants, and sunflowers.

Personal Freedom and Prosperity 102: Acquiring and Possessing PropertyThat all Men are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent natural Right…; among which are the Enjoyment of Life and Liberty, with the Means of acquiring and possessing Property, and pursuing and obtaining Happiness and Safety. —Virginia Declaration of Rights (1776)

The federal government is upset that spotted owls are disappearing. So they’re going to kill 3,600 barred owls to even the score.The Pacific Northwest has been dealing with the caprices of government for decades when it comes to the northern spotted owl. Twenty-three years ago, environmentalists noticed that the population of the birds was decreasing faster than they liked.The owl-huggers successfully lobbied the federal government to list the bird as an endangered species and drastically reduced the logging they had blamed for the owl’s predicament. Problem solved!

Earlier today, the First Department of New York State's Appellate Division upheld a ruling that struck down Mayor Bloomberg's controversial portion cap rule or "soda ban." The ban would've prohibited movie theatres and other restaurants and eating establishments from serving specific sugary beverages in quantities larger than 16 ounces.

New data shows Houston pulling ahead of New York City as the largest goods exporting region in the country. The cause? Texas' thriving economic climate, regulatory friendly environment, and energy boom. The state of Texas has been the nation's leading exporter for eleven consecutive years, so the shift in goods exports dominance isn't exactly surprising, but is certainly noteworthy.

On today’s edition of the FreedomCast, CJ Ciaramella joins me to discuss the latest attacks on state sovereignty by the EPA, how 12 Attorneys General are fighting back and how the Energy Department and the EPA are holding back the American economy.
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